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Mrs Mary Karaolis, President of the Association
of Rizokarpasso in Britain, complained that a feature on Northern Cyprus had contained inaccuracies, and had misrepresented
the reality of the situation in the Karpas Peninsula in its claim that Greek and Turkish Cypriots lived
side by side.

Resolution:

The complaint was resolved when the newspaper published the following
letter written by the complainant:

Dear Editor

Our Association was
appalled to read your recent feature on occupied Northern Cyprus, which is
inaccurate. You state that the UN partitioned Cyprus. In fact UN policy
is the reunification of the island of Cyprus. The forced
partitioning of Cyprus is the result of the
Turkish invasion of 1974 and the continued occupation of northern Cyprus by Turkish troops.
We were particularly concerned by your reference to Greek and Turkish Cypriots
living side by side in the Karpas Peninsula, which we maintain completely
misrepresents the reality of the situation: Rizokarpasso – which stands at the
top of the peninsula – was a Greek Cypriot village of over 3,000 people prior
to the Turkish invasion; the Greek Cypriot population has now been reduced to
264; Anatolian settlers from Turkey have been transported to colonize the area
and occupy the homes of Greek Cypriots who fled in 1974 and are now denied
access to their properties, including members of our Association. Andrew
Dismore MP, who visited the area in 2006, confirmed the appalling reality of
the situation and the denial of human rights to the remaining enclaved Greek
Cypriots in Rizokarpasso. We will continue to strive for a solution to reunite
the island and bring peace and prosperity to all the legal people of Cyprus.